1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a shower-partition comprising a wall-element, the shower-partition being adapted to be secured by means of the wall element to a wall of a room.
2. Description of the Prior Art
German No. OS 33 26 790 discloses a shower-partition having a wall-element made of glass which is secured to the wall of a room, at one vertical longitudinal edge by means of a frame-profiled rail. Provided at the other vertical longitudinal edge is a corner-profiled-rail which extends from the floor to the ceiling of the shower-room. The corner-profiled-rail is intended to provide stable attachment of the wall-element. Arranged at right angles to the wall element is a folding door, also made of glass, which is fitted to the other wall of the room by means of hinges and can therefore swing. A shower-partition of this kind is usually arranged in a corner between two walls in a room in such a manner that the wall-element and the door jointly enclose, with the walls of the room, a rectangular or square floor-area or shower-tub, with the corner-profiled-rail extending farthest into the shower-room. According to other designs, the folding door may be replaced by sliding doors made of a transparent material, more particularly glass. Such known shower-partition assumes secure anchorage of the corner-profiled-rail to the ceiling. In the case of a suspended ceiling such as is frequently present in older buildings with very high ceilings, it is not easy to secure a continuous corner-profiled-rail of this kind to the ceiling. Problems may also arise with wooden ceilings due to the lack of a beam above the corner-post to provide a stable attachment, making additional transverse struts, or the like, necessary, with a corresponding increase in assembly costs. In the case of rooms having ceilings of different heights, the corner-profiled-rail must be extended to the necessary length or additional extension-profiles or the like must be prepared. This results in an increase in production-costs and inventory.
German Registered Design No. 84 08 029 discloses a corner-connection for shower-partitions consisting of a rod-like corner-strut with two connecting pieces to be secured, on the one hand, to the wall of a room and, on the other hand, to a stationary wall-element of the shower-partition. The rod-shaped corner-strut is of circular or oval cross-section, the two connecting pieces being secured to the ends of the corner-strut by means of screws. The wall-element contains a frame made of four profiled rails arranged at right angles to each other, a plate made of a transparent plastic being inserted into this frame. The one connecting piece is placed at the top upon the upper frame-profiled-rail of the wall-element and is secured by means of screw. During assembly of the shower-partition, holes must be made in the upper profiled rail for the screws. If, during assembly, the distance between the wall-element and the wall of the room has to be altered, such holes must be made in situ and this may easily damage the profiled rail or even the whole wall-element. Since the corner-connection has several parts, this involves not inconsiderable production costs and there are limits to the load which can be carried by the thin, rod-shaped corner-strut. Additional problems arise in compensating for on-site tolerances, usually requiring the use of so-called compensating sections.